The Opelousas courier., 1887-12-03

closing copy OF act OF Legislature OF Lou1s1ana
salsas H%. Wiz f 81 sstt to ssi sSiS9 + the ~ ve II JONI !.
NJ: 2; ?. Richardson, chief state engineer, Of
the recent levee laws Of Louisiana. i.
In reference to the region below Red river e
- hoped that the Commission would PRO
q the Morganza crevasse, as Indicated by Gov.
McEnery. 9
Sept. %, 1885. .
sl It x s1to HeGs sdr o lseess, d5bs s snm Of th sio.t fs0 be t ape
piled to the building of the Morganze leree, pro-
vided the balance of the sum necessary 70 com:
,tsouisiana: and raised from other sources as pro
SYyssed in the letter OF the Governor of Louisiana
carried by the following vote
Yeas-den. Gilmore, Major Suter, MIR. Harrod
and Gen; Ferguson. {.
The foregoing extracts comprise eyerV-
thing relative to Morganza levee contained
in the printed proceedings. Gen; Gilmore
was only present from 12 O'Clock noon to
12:45 p. m. on the 18th, and from 1:45 p.
IN. to. 3:05 p. NJ. on the goth.
My letter referred to in the above minutes
OF the Commission was as follows:
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
BATON ROUGE, Aus. Il, 1850.
Gen 49, e a. e srm91 pf GoFgs Ct EMp3 silssiBst U Ritsr
Commission, Army Building, New York:
Dear Sir--Under the provisions of 2 recent act
made to raise funds for rebuilding the levee at
Morgan "a and at Diamond Island Bend.
The inability Of the State to provide adequate
points hes led to this legislation, under Which
the Executive Is required to ask for aid from
The situation and Importance Of these extern
siye outlets are well known to you ana the MIS-
sissippi River Commission, and in view of the
fout that fhp Commission has heretofore so lar
recognized the necessity for their closure as ~
one time to have adysrt1se ! b 1oT pf f66nn1ahs Il
proper to address you on the subject and TO, IN
close herewith a copy of the circular, issued to
The CCSornmission. and Solicit their aid and assist.
| ance, and your kind offices In placing the matter
properly before them. Very rsssRBefttIt onEsRy.
Governor of Louisiana.
AS soon as I saw il stated in the Associated
Press dispatches that the Commission had
graphed to the Secretary of War, asking him
to approve the allotment, as 1t was necessary
to m work at once, informing HIM
that if he approved the allotment L would
put 500 men on the levee within, ten lays,
and the State of Louisiana would pay the
balance necessary to build this
| GREAT AND IMPORTANT WORK.
The Secretary replied that he would gladly
approve the allotment and unite with thu
State in the building Of the levee. Ii Wat
! IADlOtY hlC ttllClEtltly SOii5bl ulbCo lhALSA va
management of the State Board of Engineers
At the last session of the Commission,
sent, as / always do at every session OF tint
| Commission. Col. Ell. B. Richardson to rep
| resent the State Board OF Engineers, Ihl
gentleman, by reason of his great ability
thorough knowledge OF the levee system o
this State and the hydraulics OF the grea
river, his sterling integrity and ,yafled Ct
served ser1!tdT eo sT' Of Major Harrod and tn
other members OF the COMMISSION. IN !ust
ice to the untiring efforts of Major Harrod
will read the following official report o
Major Richardson OF the results OF his mis-
zion to the Commission:
STATE OF LOUISIANA OFFICE BOARD OF STATE)
Engineers, Room No. 2, Fourth Floor,
New Orleans Cotton Exchange.
New Orleans. July IL, 1857
To His Excellency Samuel ID. McEnery, GOV
ernor of Louisiana:
Sir-I returned last Friday from ATTENDANCE a
the recent meeting of the Mississippi River Com
mission in New York, and should have reported
nv arrival sooner. but various matters claiming
ny you have of course learned through the news
papers the action of the Commission relative t.
Which, something over ssG0,06o viii become avail
able for work on the line between Amos Bayou
Ark. {Opossum Fork Level and the montn o
This happy result has, in my, tudglnent, bee
brought about almost entirely through the pei
sistent and judicious efforts of Major Harroe
though the Commission was unanimous L
Ih amount allotted. with what can be sur
piled by the Fifth Louisiana and the Iensas "a
sin Levee districts, and by the people o. Arkah
for building q continuous line OF leVees iroI
Amos Bayou Ridge down to, say Rougerse L ssais
ing, in Concordia parish conoltlon OF snali
which has never existed before.
If this can be accomplished before ,anothe
III think it will mark q new era in the prosperit
of this State, and. indeed, of the whole alluyis
valley. Very rssgasfntNsHR1lEyiB B. y Rqc4 1pad5sas SCI
Chief State Engineer.
Recognizing the necessity of having som
definite policy, the concerted and united 9
leaae protection, I called the levee CONVEX
tioir\ Of June, 1883. The session Of tina
conviation has becoAe historical. All II
teresteteffected by lev protection were reS
s ssssIos. md danp sf pabs sia sSssnd d] eol1ensa e z
were stimulated to dlittle United effort al
accomplish what it woug ovsaye been lmposs
BILE for the State to aeta malsl, WITH ner . IN p
tailed statement Of leyee work, and will nc
weary you with repetition; but l will say ths
the
AMOUNT Of LEvEE WORK DONE
up to 1852, when the high water swept ava
tie low and Intellectual levee work. the COZ
Generally admitted that theseyees are now
q great many years, and at q cost to the Sta'
of one-fourth the amount elpended for levs
work that gave way because OF Its lneti
But Gen. Nichols, friends say that Il
present leveeslaws we're enacted during Y
administration and the old system. of til
leyee company was abolished. nut ne dgs4 Iexs
have been created, and unity Of aetlo
among the districts has been brought abou,
and local supervision bynewly created boar6
has added very much to the improvement {
Prior to the recent allotments of the Con
mission, by the joint efforts OF the Mlss1
yippi Valley Railroad, individuals, the Mi
sissip3i River Commission ana tne STATE. tn
sion watched the effects OF this IeYse WI
| great interest. They ascertained tine IA
:. that levee-building was q sure means 1
deepening the channel, and That sne o9il
! celebrating the current, SO that it occurred
depth of thirty feet. Now, from the stat
| ment of the Commission above given, yS
, will readily see that it has been convinced !
actual experience, and that Il the approprl
! lions are made without proyisos or I
= strictions we may expect q liberal N gene
GUS assistance from the Commission.
Gov. Nichols had the same levee laws,
= is true, but was there anypoEcy inaugural
: outside Of the laws Was there any effs
! made to bring about concerted action on g
: part OF all persons interested IN leyee bull
/ ing2 Is there any record OF Ills meeuIig WI
the leyee commissioners OF the several q
tricts and giving his personal and Official,
: fiuence to their efforts 2 But is It not q IA
. that the leyee district tax was lnsufficle
{ and that no effort was made to hare. 1t
: creased and collected and district work do
z from a district taxi viii not ali absence
this personal and official supervision n T
I future beget indifference ON the part Of t
. interests affected by the leyees, and Will n
. this result in disaster to the State7
But the present efficient leyee system p
| not been perfected without opposition. Pe
!, sistent efforts have been made to embarra
7 the State governments in It's efforts to secu
2 levee protection to the alluyial district
2 There was a jabilee song OF aBy-by, NICE
1854, and its refrain has been swept alol
the line OF levees as o railying cry Tor tho
opposed to this administration. When
: government work, the Scott levee, was q
. der construction In 1889, and when t